2^2 



NA TURE 



[July i6, 1908 



nothing extraordinary, says Commandant Rcnard, in tliinl<- 

 ing that journeys of several hours, and even of an entire 

 day, will soon become quite normal. 



The Comptes rendiis of the Paris Academy of Sciences for 

 June 29 contains the report of the committee appointed to 

 consider the distribution of the Bonaparte fund for 1908. 

 The committee has considered 107 applications for assist- 

 ance from this research fund. Some of these, it is men- 

 tioned, do not comply with the conditions laid down by the 

 founder, Prince Roland Bonaparte, and others are for work 

 entirely outside the field of the Academy of Sciences. The 

 committee excludes also demands for assistance in re- 

 searches in medicine, surgery, and general biologv, since 

 the funds of the Caisse des Recherches scientifiqucs are 

 exclusively, reserved for biological studies. Ten grants are 

 recommended as follows : — (i) 2000 francs to L. Blaringhem 

 for a continuation of his important studies on the variation 

 of species and the experimental methods for the creation 

 of new species of plants ; (2) 2000 francs to Dr. Billard to 

 enable him to pursue his studies on the hydroids ; (3) 2000 

 francs to Dr. Estanave to furnish him with the means of 

 continuing his researches on direct vision projection in relief, 

 with special reference to radiography ; (4) 2500 francs to 

 MM. Fabry and Buisson for a continuation of their work 

 on the establishment of a system of standard \vave-lengths. 

 The grant is to be applied to the purchase of a plane 

 grating, a metal concave mirror of large diameter, and 

 two plane mirrors required for a study of the differences 

 between the lines of the solar spectrum and those of the 

 electric arc ; (5) 5000 francs to M. Gonnessiat for the 

 purchase of astronomical instruments for the observatory 

 of Algiers ; (6) 2000 francs to Dr. Loisel for the continu- 

 ation of his actinometric observations at the Observatory 

 of Juvisy ; (7) 2000 francs to M. Dongier for the establish- 

 ment of apparatus for the simultaneous study of the rainfall 

 and atmospheric potential ; (8) 2500 francs to M. Perot 

 for the spectroscopic study of the light from the sun by 

 interferential methods ; (9) 2000 francs to M. Matignon for 

 the determination of specific heats at high temperatures ; 

 (10) 3000 francs to P. Colin for the publication of a map 

 of South Imerina. These recommendations were adopted 

 by the academy. 



The " Brisbane beds " of Queensland, at one time sup- 

 posed to be of Jurassic age, form the subject of an article 

 by Mr. S. B. J. Skertchly in the first number of a new 

 serial, the Queensland Naturalist. Their plant-remains 

 prove them to be of early Tertiary age — perhaps equivalent 

 in time to the Laramie beds of the United States. 



.Amo.ng other American papers, we have to acknowledge 

 the receipt of one by Mr. C. S. Townsend on the taxonomy 

 of the more typical flies, with descriptions of new genera 

 and species, forming part of vol. li. of Smithsonian 

 Miscellaneous Contributions ; also one by Alice Robinson, 

 issued as No. 5 of vol. iv. of the Zoological Publications 

 of California, on the incrustin'g chilostomatous bryozoans 

 of the Pacific coast of North America. 



In an article communicated to the current volume of 

 the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Mr. R. B. 

 Sanyal urges the importance of establishing an aquarium 

 for scientific research in Bengal. The author quotes 

 Lieut. -Colonel Alcock to the effect that the ideal situation 

 for such an establishment would be the Orissa coast, in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of the sanatorium at Puri. 

 With some modification of the salt-excise, it is believed 

 that a fishing and dredging station on this coast would 

 yield a large revenue from dried fish, fish-oil, isinglass. 



&c., while from the scientific point of view such an 

 establishment would almost certainly result in discoveries 

 of profound inteiest and importance. 



We have to acknowledge the receipt of four parts (vol. 

 xxiii., Nos. 5-8) of the Journal of the College of Science, 

 Imperial University of Tokyo. No. 5 is devoted to the 

 appendicularians (such as Kowalevskia, FritiUaria, and 

 Oikopleura) met with in Japanese waters in the Noctiluca- 

 plankton, the author, Mr. T. Aida, giving elaborate 

 details of their anatomy. New cicadas from Europe and 

 the Mediterranean region generally arc described by Dr. 

 S. Matsumura in No. 6, while in No. 7 Mr. S. Tanaka 

 gives descriptions of fourteen Japanese fishes regarded as 

 new. Finally, in No. 8, Mr. I. Ikeda gives fulL details 

 of the structure of three remarkable forms of Japanese 

 echiurid gephyrean worms of which preliminary descrip- 

 tions have appeared elsewhere. The paper is illustrated by . 

 four plates, of which the first is coloured. < 



The first article, comprising 360 pages, of vol. viii. of 

 the Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory is devoted 

 to the organisms and their seasonal distribution of the 

 plankton of the Illinois River, based on the results of 

 observations and collections made from 1894-9. The 

 plankton of fresh waters, observes the author. Dr. C. A. 

 Kofoid, differs from that of the sea in the almost universal 

 absence of larval forms of life, in the smaller number of 

 invertebrate groups represented, and in the smaller size 

 of the species. Notwithstanding this lack of the larger 

 forms, the Illinois plankton represents a larger quantitative 

 amount of organic matter per cubic metre of water than 

 is the case with marine plankton. The relative abundance 

 of diatoms, of green and blue-green algas, and of chloro- 

 phyll-bearing flagellates, apparently affords abundant 

 sustenance for the animal section of the plankton. 



It has long been a puzzle how the " oystercatcher " 

 opens the shells of the mussels which form its main diet. 

 The question has been set at rest by an article contributed 

 by Mr. J. M. Dewar to the June number of the Zoologist. 

 The great majority of the molluscs are opened from the 

 dorsal border, when the valves are gaping, by the bird 

 thrusting its beak into the aperture and then using it as 

 a lever, at the same time severing the adductor muscles. 

 If one of the valves be fractured in the process, the lever- 

 action becomes unnecessary. About 9 per cent, of the 

 mussels are opened on the ventral border, where the aper- 

 ture for the byssus renders them as vulnerable when the 

 valves are closed as when open. Mussels presenting this 

 aspect are carefully searched for by the birds. Finally, 

 about 13 per cent, of the mussels are attacked at the 

 posterior extremity of the shell. 



In a special report issued by the Government of Egypt, 

 Captain Stanley Flower has published an account of his 

 round of visits to the menageries, aquariums, and museums 

 of Europe in 1907 for the purpose of acquiring information 

 which might prove advantageous to the establishment 

 under his care at Giza. Much of the interest of the re- 

 port is centred on the notices of local and private collec- 

 tions of which the general public knows but little. Among 

 the latter, special reference may be made to the wonderful 

 collection of living fresh-water fishes maintained by Captain 

 J. A. M. Vipan in two special buildings in the garden at 

 Stiblington Hall, near Peterborough. Among the rarities 

 in this collection may be mentioned specimens of the 

 bichir (Polypterus) from the Gambia, and Russian sterlets 

 presented by H.I.M. the Czar of Russia. Mr. F. E. 

 Blaauw's collection of mammals and birds at Gooliust, 



NO. 2020, VOL. 78] 



